Balkamp Bk 55440 - Tap - Thread, Bottom / Metric on 2040-parts.com

The scramble for scarce tires

North American automakers are struggling with a nagging shortage of tires, caused in part by tire plant closings and rising demand for low-volume specialty tires. Automakers are paying much higher prices -- double-digit percentage increases from a year ago -- as tire makers gain pricing power. "We have been bombarded from every side for additional tires, and we can't keep up," said David O'Donnell, Continental Tire's vice president of original equipment in the Americas.

Mercedes CL63 AMG 2011: Official

2011 Mercedes CL63 AMG We had the first leak of the 2011 Mercedes CL AMG last month when we first saw the nips and tucks Mercedes had inflicted on what we thought was about to be renamed the S Class Coupe (which apparently won’t now happen until the next all new car in 2012/2013). That was followed up by the official reveal of the bog standard 2011 Mercedes CL500 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed earlier this month, with leaked photos of both the 2011 CL63 AMG and the CL65 AMG making an appearance a week later. Now we get the official deal from Mercedes on the CL AMG, with release this weekend of proper pictures and detail.

New Audi A4 (2012): UK prices start at under £24k

2012 Audi A4 - UK Prices start from 'under' £24k The facelifted Audi A4 isn’t a new A4 for 2012, just one with plenty of tweaks and changes under the skin to freshen it up for its battle against the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes C-Class. The new Audi A4 was revealed at the end of October - together with the facelift for the S4 and A4 Allroad – and it brings with it some decent styling updates, a more upmarket interior and changes under the bonnet. There’s a new 1.8 litre TFSI with 170bhp and 50.4mpg, although you can still have the old 1.8 TFSI with 118bhp, and it’s the old A4 1.8 TFSI Audi are trumpeting as ‘sub £24k’, although for some reason they’re not being specific.